How to Build a Fire in a Wood-Fired Brick Oven
The Best Way to Start a Fire in Your Pizza Oven to Get it Hot and Ready as Quickly as Possible
When you first get your wood fired brick oven, it’s easy to start thinking about those perfect Neapolitan pizzas that will be coming out bubbling hot for your guests in 60 seconds flat. (I find that most people start with Neapolitan pizza and I have a great cold-rise pizza dough recipe for that.)
There’s a learning curve to nailing the perfect pizza for sure, but sometimes it’s the brick oven basics that can trip you up along the way. One of the basics that some people struggle with is building a stable fire in the oven to get it going (and stay lit).
The first two layers of wood, with fire starters in place.
There are a lot of different ways that you can go about building and lighting a fire in your brick oven, but here I’ll share my go-to method that works every time.
The Stacked Wood Brick Oven Fire Starter Configuration
Over the past 15 years with my backyard brick oven, I’ve tried numerous different ways to start fires – and more importantly – starting a fire that will keep burning. There are all sorts of different names and fancy explanations for these approaches, so I’ll skip all of that and just share with you what I do.
All three layers in place. Fill in any gaps with small pieces of kindling (as seen on the right).
I keep it simple and it works like a charm every time. Best of all, you don’t need to keep a watchful eye on your fire because after you try it a couple of times you can be pretty certain that the fire will keep going (until you need to add more wood, usually after about an hour in my oven).
How to Place the Wood to Build Your Brick Oven Fire
The wood stack is built with three layers of split hardwood logs. The bottom layer has the biggest split wood, and the top layer has the smallest (which can also be store-bought kindling). Oven sizes vary, so you will have to adjust the specific sizes to fit your oven’s interior.
Fire starters at work.
Start with three pieces of split hardwood on the bottom layer. Lay them side-by-side (touching) with the ends of the sawn wood facing you. You will have two channels where the logs touch. Place a food-safe firestarter (like a tumbleweed) in the middle of each channel.
The logs start to catch fire evenly.
Next, place two slightly smaller split logs on top of these and in the opposite direction. In this way you will be looking at the ends of the bottom logs and the sides of the second layer (see photos).
Finally, use three of your smaller logs or kindling on the top layer, facing the same way as the bottom logs.
That’s it. Now light your two tumbleweeds with a long-neck lighter and let the fire start to burn.
The fire is now well on its way.
Simple, Safe and Reliable Brick Oven Fire Making
You can build this structure close to the oven door and then use another log to push the entire pile – undisturbed – into the centre of the brick oven. This is the ideal location when you are heating up your oven (you can move the fire to one side or the back when you are ready to cook).
With the three ends of the bottom layer facing you, it is easy to use an extra split log to push against all three ends at once, allowing you to carefully move the pile further back into the oven before you light it, without disturbing your wood arrangement.
If you have been struggling with the best way to build a fire in your pizza oven, give this a try and see how it works for you.
See this post if you want to read more about the important role of wood in your brick oven.
By Mike Belobradic
Founder of Smoke Fire Grill™ and the Northern Barbecue™ Method of live-fire cooking courses.